Latest / Make Water Work Podcast / Catalyst Collab: Britton Smith | Make Water Work 048

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Catalyst Collab: Britton Smith | Make Water Work 048 · Make Water Work Podcast

0:02
I'm Isaac with 120 Water
0:04
>> and I'm Chelsea with Rogue Water and
0:06
we're excited to welcome you to the Make
0:08
Water Work and Catalyst Collab.
0:30
Well, hello everyone. Welcome to the
0:33
Make Water Work Catalyst Collab. I'm
0:36
your host, Isaac Pellerin with 120
0:39
Water. Um, and this has been a really
0:41
fun series to do alongside Chelsea
0:43
Boozer and Rogue Water Lab. Um, who has
0:46
such a such a knack for creating a
0:49
unique experience for um, for conference
0:54
attendees for their upcoming conference
0:56
and and previous conferences. That
0:58
really invites water professionals to be
1:01
present and open up the aperture a bit
1:04
to um to accept new ways of thinking. is
1:07
that there's more creativity and more
1:09
problem solving and ultimately more
1:11
connection. Um because communicating is
1:14
really important to the work that that
1:17
we all do and um yeah so it's um this
1:22
year it'll be in San Diego. Last year it
1:25
was in Milwaukee. I had the honor of of
1:27
being an attendee last year. Um, and so
1:30
I got to experience our upcoming guest,
1:34
um, Britain Smith, who is the founder
1:36
and lead artist of Britain and the
1:38
Sting. Um, and he
1:41
he had an incredible way of inviting all
1:44
of us to be present, let our guard down,
1:49
create a safe space for us to um, to
1:53
just connect. And so, Britain, it's a
1:55
pleasure to get to have this
1:56
conversation with you.
1:57
>> Yeah, man. I'm excited to be here. Thank
1:59
you both, you and Chelsea, for having
2:01
me. I appreciate it.
2:02
>> Yeah, absolutely. And um because this is
2:06
a water industry podcast, most of the
2:09
time I start by asking folks, how did
2:11
water find you? And it has more of a
2:14
connection to how they got their career
2:16
in water. Um but I'd love to ask you
2:18
that same question. Um because um you
2:22
got to create an experience around water
2:24
and art around water. So Britain, how
2:26
did water find you?
2:29
How did water find me? Well, I'm a
2:32
Scorpio, so water's always been Yeah, at
2:35
least in my astrological life. But I
2:38
never really tapped into
2:41
much of that astrology or water to be
2:44
honest until October of 2024.
2:49
Um, as you mentioned, I'm an artist. I
2:52
make music and um a lot of our music
2:54
feels like people call it like church on
2:58
Mali. Like the church they always wanted
3:00
like this big experience that feels like
3:03
>> community meets music meets like
3:06
>> an atmosphere where everyone can really
3:08
be themselves beyond doctrine. like
3:10
whatever you believe you can come have a
3:12
churchlike experience which is just kind
3:15
of
3:16
>> permission to be yourself, permission to
3:19
feel free,
3:20
>> permission to be around other people
3:23
across differences. And so our music and
3:26
our gatherings create that type of
3:28
>> feeling and um we've been doing it now
3:30
in New York for about 10 years. Three
3:33
years ago, I think that was three years.
3:35
2024 two.
3:37
>> Yeah. Yeah. Two two years. We're we're
3:38
heading into three.
3:39
>> We're almost three. So about 3 years
3:41
ago, I was commissioned uh by a theater
3:44
on the water called Little Island. And
3:47
um they were starting to a new like
3:50
program. Uh and like commission for
3:52
people who don't know means like uh a
3:54
theater or an institution or a museum,
3:57
somebody with money is like we're going
3:59
to give you money to create something
4:01
for us. And so I was commissioned by
4:03
Little Island, this amphitheater on the
4:05
water on um on the Hudson to make
4:08
>> a new work of music that felt like this
4:11
church-like experience.
4:12
>> And I just thought it was clever to
4:14
write about water because the
4:15
amphitheater sits on the water. And so I
4:18
was like, I'm going to write about
4:19
water.
4:20
>> And then as I began to
4:23
um do research about water and get super
4:25
nerdy about the science of water of like
4:27
how did water first come on our planet?
4:29
What is water really made of? like, you
4:31
know, my water knowledge was basically
4:33
like H2O,
4:35
you know, it was very elementary and I
4:39
really found that not only is
4:44
water incredible uh element that we
4:47
need, but I think and believe now that
4:52
the water is actually a map into how we
4:55
should be living our lives more
4:57
sustainably. Like if we were able to
4:59
live our life like the water, I think
5:01
our policies would be different. How we
5:03
view ourselves would be different. How
5:05
we treat life, how we treat others, how
5:08
we vote. I mean really if we like looked
5:11
to this element with the level of
5:13
respect it she who I call mama really
5:16
deserves.
5:17
>> Yeah.
5:17
>> I think our whole world would be
5:19
different. So, I I'm also um a big um
5:24
enthusiast for liberation and justice.
5:27
And sometimes it's hard to get people
5:28
who are so divided to even think
5:32
>> one thing alike. And so to find water
5:35
was also like a oho hold on hold on hold
5:38
on. We all need water. We all know we
5:41
need water. So it's also
5:43
>> we're all made of water.
5:45
>> It's Yeah. to to use water as uh as a
5:49
catalyst, for lack of better words.
5:51
>> Yeah.
5:51
>> To bring people together
5:53
>> was just a big aha moment. So, I will
5:56
forever be a a water nerd. It's just
5:59
kind of filled the hole of so many
6:01
spaces that I'm interested in.
6:03
>> Yeah. Yeah. I love it. And it's it's um
6:07
I think what I loved about the the
6:09
experience at Catalyst was you know
6:14
getting a bunch of water professionals
6:16
together who do spend time thinking
6:18
about the chemistry or how we
6:20
communicate those things and like very
6:21
much in the science um of water. It was
6:25
it was taking it apart into um and
6:29
helping us dive into the the uh the
6:32
spiritual aspect of water and how it's
6:35
it's a connected um it's a connected
6:38
system. And I mean, I just found myself
6:40
just thinking like all sorts of things,
6:42
you know, based on your prompts like it
6:45
carries things like it it carries good
6:49
and bad, contamination, non-contaminate,
6:51
like like it it forces it's a medium
6:54
that flows and it it had like Yeah.
6:57
Every word that you use ends up having
6:59
symbolic meaning in so much of our art.
7:02
Um,
7:03
>> and so yeah, like what what was it like
7:05
going into
7:08
diving into an element and and
7:12
discovering the uni like the depth and
7:15
the um universe of water?
7:18
>> Yo, well, first of all, I grew up super
7:20
Christian, super religious and in Texas
7:23
>> and um uh it was never the most we
7:29
talked about water was baptism.
7:31
>> Yeah. you know, never like ritual, but
7:35
in so many cultures around the world,
7:37
water is used in a major way. And um
7:41
when I was doing this work with this
7:43
commission, I learned that inherently my
7:46
black body, my African lineage, my
7:49
bloodline knew how to use the water for
7:53
more than just drinking. Like they knew
7:55
of its aliveness. They knew of its
7:58
ability to participate in the community
8:02
as a relationship as a as a member of
8:05
the community. And when you talk to
8:07
indigenous people, they're like, "Bro,
8:09
absolutely."
8:10
>> Yeah.
8:10
>> Absolutely. We talk to the water.
8:13
Absolutely. And it's just kind of like
8:15
so to be having a spiritual experience
8:18
and building a relationship with water
8:20
and then bringing it and bringing this
8:22
aha moment to these like very technical,
8:25
nerdy, scientific, brilliant minds who
8:28
are like
8:31
um
8:32
doing great work for the water but not
8:36
with the water. like watching them go,
8:39
"Wait, I can collaborate with this with
8:43
the essence of this element I'm working
8:45
for."
8:47
>> Absolutely. Absolutely. You're working
8:49
for something that's alive. You're
8:51
helping people live and there's
8:53
aliveness in the water. So it's been
8:55
really it's been really cool to offer
8:59
this artistic somatic framework to the
9:03
technical mind but also it's been really
9:05
nice to hear from the technical minds
9:08
where is impact because I don't just
9:10
want to sing about water. I want
9:12
everybody to feel in relationship with
9:14
it because I think it'll help how we
9:16
think about our pipes and our and and
9:18
our and our crises that we are having
9:20
around the country. I mean around the
9:22
world. And so I feel like I'm meeting
9:25
people who I need and they need me. And
9:28
so it feels like a new
9:30
>> like coalition of people who need to be
9:32
together and I don't want to be the only
9:34
artists in the space. And I know that
9:35
I'm not. You know, there are other
9:37
artists
9:38
>> who also offer this. And so it's been
9:40
really really cool to be around some
9:42
other water nerds who can talk about
9:44
water all day and kind of inspire me.
9:46
It's inspiring.
9:48
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is. It is
9:50
for me too. like I you know um I was
9:55
talking to another guest that we just
9:57
had who was a documentary filmmaker um
10:00
and um she was she was talking about
10:03
exactly what you're saying the indig
10:05
indigenous tribes and I believe it's in
10:06
New Zealand they've granted water
10:09
personhood um because it's it's a per
10:12
it's part of the community and so and so
10:15
especially tribes with traditions that
10:18
go way back they they think about it not
10:21
as this is just a resource to use.
10:24
They're like this is a part of our
10:26
community and we have to we therefore we
10:30
honor it in different ways than just
10:32
saying what can we get out of it?
10:34
>> Yes. Yes. And
10:37
to use something like the water that we
10:40
need to live to be in practice with. How
10:43
can I support you and not extract you?
10:46
How can I not just use you? Is this a
10:48
good practice for how we treat earth
10:51
ourselves and each other? So I really
10:53
think if we can learn relearn to do it
10:56
for the water it'll help us in society
10:59
not do it to others like you don't just
11:02
take from others either like
11:04
>> don't just take the element you need
11:06
from your job you know how can you pour
11:09
in how can you participate how can you
11:12
recycle need and give and take like the
11:15
water does every day.
11:16
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this this is a
11:19
this is a fun unique conversation
11:22
because we get to talk a little bit a
11:24
little bit broader than than I do with
11:27
some other guests. But um yeah, I I've
11:31
been at policy conferences and um things
11:35
in in DC where we talk about um what
11:40
water carries. And I think about like
11:42
there's that book the body keeps the
11:43
score and we kind of know that it's like
11:45
there's also this like element of like
11:47
the water keeps the score and when we
11:49
understand how we organized around it or
11:52
how we have like the to get into the
11:55
justice aspect of like there are times
11:58
periods of time in our country where we
12:01
only allowed certain certain folks with
12:03
means and certain skin color to live
12:07
>> upstream of the water where we're
12:09
producing stuff And the chemicals that
12:12
would go downstream,
12:14
>> well, the folks who we would bring in to
12:16
work in those factories, they got to
12:18
live downstream and and bear the impact
12:21
of what was carried in the water. And
12:24
like I remember that just blowing my
12:26
mind. And it was like it was in DC at a
12:29
panel
12:30
>> with folks from the EPA and I like this
12:32
is big. Like
12:33
>> it is big. It is big. And it's so linked
12:37
to so many of those issues. Like water
12:41
as a source of life of course is
12:43
connected to education. Of course is
12:45
connected to systemic racism. Of course
12:48
it's connected to all of these things
12:49
because
12:50
>> if you don't believe I mean and this
12:52
this is a country where my ancestors had
12:55
to fight to even be considered a human.
12:57
You know they were considered like a
12:59
third of a human. It's like whoa. So if
13:02
that is true back not too long ago not
13:06
longgo they would not really be
13:09
considered in the where well let's put
13:12
them where the pipes are the best. Let's
13:14
put them where you know we know they can
13:16
be cared for. No that this is a people
13:19
who had to fight for so much. And it
13:22
it's true. The most vulnerable
13:24
communities will have the least access
13:26
to mama.
13:28
>> Yeah. And that's tragic. It's so sad.
13:30
the most vulnerable communities will
13:32
have the least access to education.
13:34
>> Yeah,
13:35
>> that's sad. You know, it's like, wow.
13:37
>> Um,
13:38
>> and get the most benefit from the the
13:41
lifegiving aspect that water can have,
13:44
but it can also have detrimental
13:46
aspects. And I think that's I think
13:47
that's the the thing that's interesting
13:50
is watching the water community like we
13:53
have there's that um kind of
13:57
juxtaposition of like water is life when
14:00
it's carrying the nutrients we need when
14:03
it's doing this. It also is destructive
14:05
when it comes in
14:09
>> like oceans rise storms go through like
14:12
it it it's both.
14:14
>> Yeah. two a year maybe a year and a half
14:17
ago I went to Florida Sarasota Florida
14:21
to do Mama the concert
14:24
>> for a community of people who had just
14:25
had their homes like 400 people who were
14:27
just wiped out by hurricane
14:30
>> uh I can't remember I want to say Irene
14:32
or Eileen like that it was awful awful
14:35
awful and I was like you want me to come
14:37
to this place and sing water songs to
14:40
these people who have just gotten their
14:41
devastated by the water and they
14:44
were like Yes, because these are people
14:45
who move to the water because they know
14:48
how beautiful it is. Who need to be
14:49
reminded that the water got two sides,
14:52
bro? The water has two sides. And you
14:54
have to love and care for all of its
14:56
sides. Like you because you love the
14:58
water, you should also think about
15:00
climate change.
15:01
>> Because you love the water, you should
15:03
also think about who doesn't have access
15:05
to it. You can't just sit by the shore
15:06
and love it without it being impacted.
15:09
Like a it is a personhood. It will give
15:12
you its good qualities. And if you make
15:14
her mad by not taking care of her,
15:17
>> she may ruin your million-dollar home.
15:20
>> Let me sing my water songs to you, you
15:22
wealthy ass people whose
15:25
just got messed up. And I'm sorry,
15:27
that's devastating. No one deserves
15:28
that.
15:29
>> But also remember, the thing that you
15:31
love is also
15:33
>> maybe a little sick.
15:35
>> Yeah. Yeah.
15:36
>> And asking to be cared for.
15:38
>> It is begging to be cared for. It really
15:41
is. And it's like, oh man, that's so
15:43
right. And people, we forget. We forget
15:46
that like
15:47
>> there are many sides to the water. I
15:51
think that's why personhood is
15:52
important. I mean, it's been really
15:54
easier for me to remember to care for
15:56
something with a name like mama because
15:59
I'm already conditioned to care for my
16:00
mother. Like, so to put the water in a
16:04
framework of familiarity
16:07
>> um was helpful for me to be like, "Oh,
16:09
okay. You got to call your mom every now
16:11
and then. You gota check on her. You
16:12
gota or she gets pissed.
16:15
>> Yeah.
16:16
>> And like it's the same. Yeah.
16:18
>> Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Now, let's I
16:22
I kind of want to take us back to last
16:25
year. So, um so catalyst is this um this
16:31
experience, annual experience bringing
16:33
water professionals together. Um take us
16:36
back to your session and what was your
16:39
intent? What did you want to do with the
16:41
room? Because whatever you did, it was
16:43
pretty fun. Um, and pretty pretty
16:45
impactful. Not just fun. Um, I want to
16:48
make make light of it. It it was a
16:50
moving experience. Um,
16:52
>> yeah, man.
16:53
>> Yeah. Take us back to what happened.
16:56
>> Yeah. So, a part of my artistry
17:00
uh beyond composing and performing and
17:03
writing and singing and is uh
17:06
facilitation. I love facilitation. I
17:09
love to be like I love to know who's in
17:13
the room. What are they like? What do
17:16
they need? And how can the tools and the
17:19
life experience that I have lived create
17:22
a series of questions for us all to like
17:25
sit with and um I don't have answers but
17:29
I bet in this room of however many
17:31
people um we can at least wonder
17:35
together. we can at least like lean in
17:38
together. And so I love to create
17:40
opportunity for collective lean in. And
17:43
so Chelsea was like, "Yo, I I know that
17:46
in this water space a lot of people um
17:50
we are conditioned to wear masks."
17:53
>> And I was like, "Oo, tell me more." And
17:55
she was like, "I feel like I have to um
18:00
uh um be a different person sometimes."
18:03
And I was like, "Tell me more." And and
18:06
as we began to talk about this personal
18:08
story to to to Chelsea, I was like, "Yo,
18:12
I understand that. I know
18:14
>> how I've been asked to be less queer in
18:17
spaces, less black in spaces, less loud
18:20
in spaces, and
18:22
>> there are things that tell me if you
18:24
want to advance, you actually may want
18:26
to turn that down." And so I I know what
18:29
it feels like to put on um belonging or
18:33
put on things that create that and take
18:36
off things that may disrupt
18:39
my chance to belong. And I a part of my
18:43
own practice is um and the sting has
18:46
helped me a lot with this is like how
18:48
can I be fully me at all times? And it's
18:52
truly work. like it's not always easy in
18:55
the barberh shop in a weird neighborhood
18:58
and like and but I I'm like yo can I can
19:00
I stay
19:01
>> inside of who I am and so I was like I
19:03
would love to do this because honestly I
19:06
want to know how others are dealing with
19:07
it
19:08
>> and so I was able to use the room to ask
19:10
some of these questions specifically in
19:13
the water space what are parts of
19:14
ourselves that we leave out and why and
19:17
what's at stake when we leave out parts
19:19
of ourselves. Is there a part of you
19:21
that's more humorous at home than you
19:24
are at work? And does the water need
19:27
your humor? Like what if the water what
19:30
if all the work you really are caring
19:31
about actually needs your humor? Like
19:34
imagine that. What if the work needs
19:36
that part of you that you're leaving at
19:38
home? And so it was really beautiful to
19:40
see that not only did Chelsea feel this,
19:42
not only did I feel this, but
19:44
>> it's a part of our work culture. And so
19:46
I could have done this in any
19:49
>> industry and I'm sure people would have
19:51
been like yeah but specific to the water
19:53
sector
19:54
>> um we can use the water as uh as a
19:58
mirror really like um you know we are
20:02
all working in the water. What parts of
20:05
>> the water is she leaving behind?
20:07
>> No, she comes full and so how can we be
20:10
more like the water and how we show up
20:12
to work? Uh, and it was fun. And it was
20:14
fun when we were we were doing the wave.
20:16
We were laughing. We were singing
20:18
together.
20:19
>> We got deep. We were crying a little
20:21
bit. I had just hold up finger like,
20:23
"Hey, hold up five fingers if this is
20:25
how you feel." You know, and like Yeah.
20:27
Yeah. And it moved people to tears to
20:29
when they could see around and see how
20:32
other people
20:34
>> feel that same level of I don't feel
20:37
like I can be myself or I feel like I
20:39
need to hide this part of myself or how
20:41
strongly do you feel this? Um,
20:43
>> yes. And I've done this in situations,
20:45
bro, with like huge CEO groups, like at
20:48
major companies. And it's amazing to see
20:51
>> how universal that really is. I mean,
20:54
it's
20:55
>> it's
20:57
>> it's honestly kind of beautiful to see
20:58
that, oh, we're all just like babies.
21:01
>> Yeah. We're all just baby grown-ups
21:05
trying to like
21:06
>> Yeah.
21:06
>> survive and belong.
21:08
>> Yeah. We're just putting on our suits
21:09
and, you know, like it it's fun. It it
21:12
can be fun. I'm like I I love playing
21:15
playing dress up like anybody else.
21:17
Like, you know, but like sometimes if I
21:19
have to go to go somewhere and put on a
21:21
suit, I'm like, oh, this this is a fun
21:23
costume for today. Like like
21:26
>> yo,
21:27
>> I can play with it. Um,
21:29
>> knowing that underneath I'm like I don't
21:31
know. We're we're all just
21:32
>> trying our best, man. All of us.
21:35
>> Um,
21:35
>> yeah.
21:36
>> But yeah, it was a good experience. I
21:37
really I thought I think that what Catal
21:40
Catalyst is doing and I've been to a
21:42
number of conferences now I mean it's
21:44
kind of crazy. I didn't even know these
21:46
conferences existed. Like truly
21:48
>> I didn't even know when I tell people
21:50
I'm going to a water conference they're
21:52
like what's a water conference and I'm
21:54
like
21:54
>> oh right I didn't know either
21:58
>> and there are many of them. Many.
22:00
>> Oh yeah. Yeah. There's like a WWE Ace
22:04
that had like 15,000 people. I'll be
22:06
going to Weft in
22:08
>> Week in October.
22:10
>> New Orleans.
22:11
>> Yeah. New Orleans. Yeah. Yeah. New
22:13
Orleans.
22:14
>> Like, you know, 20 25 30,000 people. Um,
22:19
and so and I I think that this is like
22:23
one of the things that's fun about uh
22:25
that I think is um is cool and humbling
22:30
is you spend a lot of time getting a lot
22:34
of people who you know they they
22:36
invested their life degrees where like
22:39
lot of engineers really intelligent and
22:42
at the same time everyone in the world
22:45
experiences water like
22:48
it doesn't matter how much knowledge you
22:51
have, you still get to experience it. Um
22:54
there are definitely some that like
22:57
invest their time, effort, and energy
22:59
into like making sure it gets places,
23:02
gets clean, gets taken away when it's
23:03
dirty. Um all those. But um yeah, but
23:07
it's just like we we can't we can't ever
23:09
think that we're so smart that we have a
23:12
special experience with water that isn't
23:16
just available to everyone.
23:17
>> Yeah, I can see that being a challenge
23:22
in the space.
23:24
>> Yeah.
23:24
>> Yes. It's the same for like lawyers who
23:28
are going to Columbia Law School or like
23:30
Harvard for law. And if they're not in
23:34
relationship with the people who are
23:35
most vulnerable to the law, they're not
23:38
going to fully understand the law. No
23:41
matter how degreed up they are, if
23:43
they're not in proximity to the people
23:46
most up by the law,
23:48
>> they're not going to fully understand it
23:49
cuz they're only understanding the head
23:51
and the and the gavvel of it, not the
23:54
day-to-day of what that law is doing to
23:56
these communities or to these people or
23:58
to, you know, and so it takes a certain
24:00
type of person who really wants to
24:03
understand the full body of the law even
24:05
with a degree at like a prestigious. So
24:08
I could understand and I can see like
24:10
you know you can tell like oh wow you
24:13
really
24:14
>> know a lot about the water. You really
24:17
do
24:18
>> but how proximate are you to the
24:21
fullness of the scope of what water
24:24
touches you know
24:26
>> um and you have to be willing to do that
24:28
because in a lot of spaces I don't think
24:30
people
24:31
>> really need you to have a full scope.
24:33
You have to want to like
24:35
>> know more,
24:36
>> feel more,
24:38
>> be more approximate.
24:39
>> Yeah.
24:41
>> Yeah. Yeah. And Chelsea talks a lot
24:43
about this at the at all of her anytime
24:46
she gives a talk or something, you know,
24:47
she talks about the the overcoming the
24:50
curse of knowledge that um that is the
24:53
aspect that that so many professionals
24:56
no matter what what you're in, you just
24:58
have to like remember that no one is
25:01
asking you, especially if you're a water
25:03
communicator who's like working for a
25:05
city and you have to address like, oh,
25:07
there's flooding, there's this, like you
25:09
have you have to
25:11
speak in ways that are empathetic,
25:14
curious, and accessible.
25:16
>> Yeah.
25:17
>> No one's looking to say like, "Wow,
25:18
you're really smart. You know what all
25:20
those words mean." They're like, "Please
25:21
just let me know when when is the water
25:23
coming back on? When is it going away?"
25:26
Like, when are we fixing this? Like,
25:28
>> when are we smart?
25:30
>> I don't care how smart you are. I don't
25:32
have water.
25:33
>> Yeah. Yeah.
25:34
>> No, it's true. It's true. And our
25:36
insecurities sometimes can can compel us
25:39
to be like, I'm in a tricky situation.
25:41
Like I I totally empathize with with
25:44
water communicators as well. It's like
25:46
when you're in the hot seat and it's
25:47
like oh the cameras are on and they're
25:49
looking to you for an answer. You could
25:50
be like
25:51
>> let me give them all the like let me
25:53
make sure that they know that I'm smart.
25:54
That way maybe that'll make folks feel
25:57
and it's that aspect and this is what
25:59
you walked us through is like
26:01
>> it's not necessarily getting to showing
26:03
people how smart you are. How vulnerable
26:05
can you be
26:06
>> to say I'm experiencing this to you?
26:10
>> Well, you know what, bro? Not to get too
26:11
political. I don't know what the belief
26:13
systems or politics are here, but people
26:16
are over smart people. That's why we
26:17
have the president we have.
26:19
>> Mhm.
26:20
>> We We don't want that. We No one is
26:23
wanting that overly smart knowit all. We
26:27
want somebody who's going to like feel
26:29
and kind of be disruptive to that.
26:32
>> Yeah. not curse of the knowledge person
26:35
or that like the way it is kind of
26:38
person. And so yeah, I do feel like
26:40
we're in a particular moment where
26:43
whoever tells the best story will win
26:46
even if it's not true.
26:47
>> And if you're telling a story of facts,
26:49
people are going, even if they are true,
26:52
they may not go over, but if you're
26:53
telling a story of personal experience,
26:56
belief, and if it feel I think people
26:58
will be like, you know what, he didn't
27:00
know everything I wanted him to know.
27:02
She didn't know everything I wanted her
27:03
to know. But I get them. I think that
27:06
person will win. Um,
27:08
>> and we're seeing that happen politically
27:10
even with lies. Like
27:13
>> that's not even true. And we believe it
27:15
because whoever tells the best story
27:18
wins.
27:19
>> Mhm.
27:20
>> Period.
27:20
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And kind of to the
27:22
point is like, you know, the the beauty
27:25
of the um working with art art and art
27:30
craft in the way that you um that you're
27:32
using it is like you're saying, "Hey,
27:34
how do we give water a voice? How do we
27:36
make sure that we're listening to the
27:37
voice of water um and the story that
27:39
it's telling?" Because
27:41
>> um it's telling a it's telling a
27:44
compelling story. Um,
27:47
and are we willing to listen even if
27:50
even if the compelling story isn't like
27:53
a feel-good story? Um,
27:55
>> yeah,
27:56
>> it's still telling us truth. Um,
27:59
>> bro, I think the key is willingness. I
28:02
really do. I think willingness is just
28:03
so
28:05
>> Mhm.
28:06
>> big in everything and in interpersonal
28:09
relationships in in work in the
28:11
community and organizing in the work
28:14
that so many of these water
28:15
communicators and workers are doing is
28:17
like this willingness to like fully
28:21
participate. Uh
28:23
I think if we can get that from the
28:25
majority of people, I think we really
28:27
would be in a better place, you know, in
28:29
instead of indifference or like
28:30
whatever, I don't even care. I'm not
28:32
even willing to participate. If we can
28:34
get people to like be charged to be
28:36
willing,
28:38
>> we'd be in a good place.
28:40
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I totally agree. Um
28:45
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
28:46
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I I think, you know, I I
28:49
think that's that's kind of a good place
28:50
for us to kind of land this conversation
28:53
is like that that's what we're asking of
28:56
ourselves. That's what we're asking of
28:58
our of our communities is um willingness
29:02
to to lean in. And I, you know, I can't
29:04
thank you enough for the way that you
29:06
got our our uh small corner of the
29:10
community of the world of us water nerds
29:13
to to unlock and lean in um last year.
29:17
And um yeah, I'm really grateful for for
29:20
the work you do. Um, please tell us like
29:23
how where can folks um find you, find
29:26
your music? Um, yeah.
29:28
>> Um, g give us a little bit a little
29:30
taste of uh of where to find more
29:33
>> more of your work.
29:33
>> Uh, yeah. So, the the band is called
29:36
Britain. B R I T T O N and sign the
29:40
Sting like B Sting. Britain and the
29:43
Sting. And we're everywhere. Apple
29:45
Music, Spotify, YouTube, um um um
29:48
Instagram, and uh the album that we're
29:52
talking about is called Return to Mama.
29:55
>> And um we're doing uh a six city tour uh
29:59
right now. Um and we're trying to go to
30:02
cities that need the water the most. Uh
30:04
TBD on announcing the rest of the
30:06
cities. Um we just were in San Antonio
30:08
with the river rally earlier this year.
30:11
Um and um yeah, every year we do a world
30:15
a free world water day concert in New
30:18
York, which is like in March. And um
30:21
yeah, we do a lot of shows in New York.
30:23
Uh our next show here is at Lincoln
30:25
Center. It's like a theater complex in
30:27
New York. Uh in September, uh we'll be
30:30
we'll be doing some of these songs. And
30:33
yeah, if you are listening and you are
30:37
excited by music as a way to mobilize
30:40
and gather and my cat crying, uh then
30:45
then yeah, reach out to me, please.
30:47
>> Yeah. Yeah, we'll we'll do. Um yeah, and
30:51
thank you all um so much for for joining
30:55
in on this on this conversation, this um
30:59
you know that being part of the Catalyst
31:02
community um is really special and so
31:04
I'm grateful that um that Chelsea has
31:08
has uh allowed us to have this
31:10
collaboration
31:12
>> um and uh and very excited for what
31:16
Catalyst in San Diego this year holds.
31:18
So, um, thank you for joining us,
31:20
Britain. Thank you for, um, for jumping
31:23
on, having this conversation.
31:25
>> Yes. Yo, thank you, Isaac. This was
31:27
great. Really great. I could talk about
31:28
water all day, so thank you for charging
31:30
me up. I feel good. Awesome. Feel
31:32
>> really good.